April 29, 2011

Plant Aside

There can be little doubt.

As of today, April 29th, it appears that Spring has at last found its way to Blueberry Hill.

In spite of temperatures still dropping below 40 at night, we've been assured the danger of frost is past. The grass is growing. The robins are busy. The lower tier of the forest is misted with green, and the trees are budding.

Ah, Spring!

It brings out my inner gardener. I love flowers, and long to have a yard that looks like the Home Depot commercials.

But herein lies the problem, a Jekyll and Hyde situation if there ever was one.

By day, I'm a mild-mannered mom and writer, but when it comes to plants of any kind - flowers, vegetables, I'm pretty sure even weeds - I become - duhn-duhn duhn-duhn - The Black Thumb of Poughquag!

Kind of strikes terror into your heart, doesn't it?

I can take any perfectly healthy flourishing plant and kill it within a week.

Really.

The only exception to date is impatiens. The front of our house faces directly north and gets virtually no sun. In the years when we haven't had a puppy to dig them up and I've had the time to put them in (I think that equals maybe 3 years out of 18) I have planted impatiens along the front and they have blossomed heartily in spite of me. Clearly, they have more lives than a cat, or have discovered the secret antidote to The Black Thumb of Poughquag!

Despite my appalling track record, I'm eternally delusional optimistic. Each year, when spring rolls around, I think, this will be the year my yard rivals the Botanical Gardens!

So I have this sweet little lavender (I think) plant that was given to me by a school I visited. It has lived in my house for a month plus because my husband has been taking care of it. In a few days, it's going out to the garden...

Say a prayer :)

And feel free to share any helpful gardening tips... :)

P.S. In case you're wondering how this relates to writing, well... it doesn't. Unless you want me to compare weeding and pruning (at which I am abysmal because I can't tell the weeds from the plants I'm trying to grow and I never know what to cut off) to the revision process. Which come to think of it is a very apt comparison because I have the same problem trying to weed and prune my manuscripts :)

4 comments:

Love this post! I'm dying to start gardening, but we're still getting bits of snow in my part of Colorado--it's best to wait until after Mother's Day. I've got a few indoor seedlings that are rapidly outgrowing their pots.

I've got a black/gray thumb too for the most part, but I blame it on our bad soil. The only thing that really flourished last year were my green beans and sage. The sage was grown from seed, and the plant shriveled up for the winter, but has a little new growth already. I didn't know it did that. Pumpkins are hearty, but they take over everything :) Best of luck!

Spring is my favourite season too (we're in Autumn in Australia, but that's okay because that's my second favourite season!). I've not got a green thumb either, that's why I leave the gardening up to my husband. :-)

I am exactly the same don't worry. I often think of those writers you hear about with a garden just like those and they get lots of inspiration looking at their flowers from their lovely garden seats after pruning. Where do they find the time? I have no gardening skills whatsoever. Did manage to grow veges one year *sighs*

Look what Alison, Kelly, Diane, Debbie and Donna gave me!

Look what Brooke gave me!

Look what Megan gave me!

About Me

Welcome to the wonderful world of writing for children! I am a writer, reader, animal-lover and chocolate enthusiast who lives on Blueberry Hill with my husband, kids, and dogs. Please check out my website at www.susannahill.com to learn more about my books and accompanying activities as well as lots of info for writers, teachers and parents.